Niger's military leader named president, entrenches power

Niger entrenched military rule for another five years this week when junta leader, Abdourahamane Tchiani, who seized power in a 2023 military coup, was named president for the next five years.

During his inauguration in the capital Niamey, attended by religious and military leaders, Tchiani boasted it was "a new beginning for a sovereign Niger."

Tchiani was sworn in under a new charter, which replaces the West African nation’s previous constitution. Depending on the security situation in Niger, which has been plagued by insurgencies and violence for over a decade, the five-year presidency may well be extended. Tchiani was also promoted to the country’s highest military rank and he signed a decree dissolving all political parties. 

Tchiani said the new charter was needed to protect Niger's natural resources which would bring wealth to ordinary Nigeriens who are regularly ranked as among the world's poorest people.

New leadership criticized

In 2023, Niger's former president  Mohamed Bazoum who was democratically elected, was deposed by the military. Critics of the military regime say this week's presidential inauguration is another setback for democracy and human rights in the country.

"We were well aware that this masquerade would continue as soon as Tchiani arrived at the presidential palace to kidnap the democratically elected president of the republic," Sahanin Mahamadou, a former adviser to Bazoum, told DW. "What a disgrace it is for Niger ... it's a huge step backwards for democracy and freedom of expression in our country."

Former President Bazoum remains under house arrest and many of Niger's state institutions, including the human rights commission, have been shut down. 

Government critics imprisoned

Ousmane Diallo, Sahel researcher at Amnesty International, told DW that meetings leading up to Tchiani's presidency were meant to portray inclusivity but that the reality was different.

"We're all familiar with the national dialogues that have emerged from these meetings," Diallo said, "where unfortunately there isn't the inclusiveness we'd hoped for. There were no frank discussions."

Additionally human rights defenders and critics of the junta have been imprisoned, he said, noting that arrests included human rights activist Moussa Tchangari, journalist Ousmane Toudu and politicians connected to the previous government.

International impacts

Niger has experienced five military coups since it became independent from France in 1960 and Grit Lenz, coordinator of the Berlin-based Fokus Sahel group, told DW that Tchiani's newly elevated position as president was unlikely to impact most Nigerien civilians,

As for international impact, Niger officially left the regional bloc , the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS in January this year. In 2023, Niger ordered French troops to leave and it has tried to forge closer ties with Russia. In mid-2024, Niger formed the Alliance of Sahel States with other military-run West African nations Mali and Burkina Faso. 

"ECOWAS has understood that realistically it can no longer pressure Niger," Lenz told DW. And countries in the European Union have mostly tried to work with the new leadership rather than break off relations altogether, so they can keep some semblance of presence in Niger, which posesses oil, uranium and gold.

The difficulty for Western nations, like Germany, will be how to balance this attitude with very real consequences for human rights, freedom of speech, and civil society in Tchiani's Niger, Lenz argued.

Edited by: Catherin Schaer